The Bears Go Flying as Colorado Completes Sweep of Gulls
Dec 8, 2018
LOVELAND, CO. – Eagles forward Michael Joly buried a one-timer on the power-play to send over 10,000 teddy bears onto the ice during Colorado’s annual Teddy Bear Toss night, as part of a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Gulls on Saturday. The win caps-off a six-game homestand that saw the Eagles capture 11 of a possible 12 points in the standings. Colorado forward Martin Kaut would net the game-winning goal in the third period, while rookie defenseman Kevin Davis collected the first three points of his AHL career.
The scoring started when San Diego forward Chase De Leo created a turnover on the penalty kill, springing him on a breakaway down the ice. Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz would thwart his initial shot, but fellow forward Sam Carrick would slam home the rebound to give the Gulls a 1-0 edge just 4:49 into the contest.
Colorado would earn its second power play of the night later in the period and this time it would be the Eagles who would light the lamp. Joly collected a cross-ice pass at the top of the left circle and fired a shot past San Diego goalie Kevin Boyle to tie the game at 1-1 with 9:41 remaining in the opening frame. The goal would also send over 10,000 teddy Bears raining onto the ice.
Heading into the second period with game still knotted at 1-1 the Gulls would throw 16 shots on net in the middle frame, including a breakaway for Carrick, but Francouz would stand tall and the two teams would head to the second intermission still deadlocked at 1-1.
The scoring would break loose early in the third period when San Diego forward Max Jones scored a power-play goal from the top of the crease to put the Gulls on top, 2-1 just 1:39 into the final stanza.
Colorado would generate an answer less than four minutes later when forward Andrew Agozzino launched a shot from the top of the left circle on the power play, beating Boyle and tying the game at 2-2.
Eagles forward Dominic Toninato would put Colorado in the driver’s seat 1:13 later when he stuffed a rebound in the crease into the back of the net to give the Eagles the 3-2 advantage at the 6:27 mark of the third period. The goal would also signal the end of the night for Boyle, who would give way to Jared Coreau in net for the duration.
The lead would be stretched when Colorado forward Martin Kaut buried a wrister from the slot to put the Eagles up 4-2 with 10:00 remaining in the contest. It would also cap-off three straight goals for Colorado in a span of 4:46.
A power play for San Diego would pull the Gulls back within one, as forward Sam Steel would snap a wrister past Francouz and trim the Eagles lead to 4-3 with 7:37 still left in the third period.
As time ticked under two minutes San Diego would pull Coreau in favor of the extra attacker, but they would not draw any closer, as Colorado held on for the 4-3 victory.
The Eagles finished the night going 2-for-5 on the power play, while San Diego scored twice on seven opportunities on the man-advantage. Francouz earned his 12th win of the season in goal, stopping 33 of the 36 shots he faced.
Colorado returns to action when they travel to Tucson Arena in Tucson, Arizona to face the Tucson Roadrunners on Tuesday, December 11th at 7:05pm MT.
Single-game tickets for the 2018-19 season are on-sale now and start at just $18 per seat. Purchase your seats today by visiting the Budweiser Events Center box office, online at ColoradoEagles.com or by calling the Eagles ticketing department at 970-686-SHOT (7468).
